Like A Love Song
by CheerleadingGymnasticsGrrl
Summary: Gemma is Greg's twin, and she's extremely excited for the summer, but with her family, things never run very smooth. At all. Then she meets Braden Higgins... Braden/OC (I DO NOT OWN GROWN UPS, JUST MY OC'S)
1. Oh Deer

**Like A Love Song.  
Braden/OC **

**Summary: Gemma Feder, twin to Greg Feder, is more than happy for summer to be here. Then she meets Braden Higgins. **

**Chapter One: Oh Deer…**

* * *

The early morning sun seeped in through my blinds as I stumbled back into my bedroom from my shower. Last day of school, then I was officially a senior! Along with my twin and best friend for life, Greg, and our friend Andre. Our little brother Keithie was going to be Sophomore, and Becky was in third grade… I think….

"What to wear… What to wear…" I muttered walking over to my walk in closet, I burrowed through the many articles of clothing, attempting to find an outfit. Finding nothing at first, I gave up and decided to do my makeup. I threw on a grey pajama romper and then I sat at my vanity, looking over the variety of items before me…. I should go neutral since I have no clue what the heck I'm wearing. I was in the middle of doing my eyes when I heard screaming that was no doubt from my Mother. I dropped my eyeliner and ran out of my room, nearly doing a face plant as I tripped on my rug and threw open my door and stepped out the door, and jumped back inside as something very large and scary shot past me.

"No way! Can I ride it?!" Keithie exclaimed as I stood there gaping, trying to grasp what I just saw.

"Ah," I squeaked. Holy crap! That was a deer! A big deer at that. I jumped back out in time to see it slide and crash into the bathroom door, effectively destroying it, it then managed to yank the curtain, revealing my twin…. Naked. EWWWW!

"Ahhhhhhh!" We both screamed, the deer then started peeing on him… Even grosser…. I tried to shake the image from my eyes when I heard clomping, I froze as the deer galloped towards me. Becky then joined the party when she popped her head out of her room, a huge grin on her face when she saw the animal. I should have known she would have something to do with this!

"A deer!" She cried with glee. I tried to move, but was frozen, and as I waited to be murdered by the deer, Keithie, and Dad jumped out in front of me from the laundry room with baskets of dirty clothes in hand. How will that help?! They threw it at the deer, and it stopped momentarily stunned. Well… It worked…. It shook off the clothing, except for one piece, a bra, that hung on one of the antlers. In any other situation, I would have laughed, because it was rather entertaining sight, but I was trying not to freak out more than I already was. The deer then ran from them and on down the stairs. We all took off after it.

"Daddy, I left the door open in case any animals wanted to come in," Becky explained, following Mom as she hurried up to be with us.

"You did, huh?" Dad asked, I peered as far as I could to catch sight of the beast.

"I did!" She sounded quite pleased with herself. Usually her love for animals was endearing, but now it was irritating and life threatening.

"Yeah, one crazy-ass one!" Keithie exclaimed.

"Language!" Mom hissed.

"Oh, no, you did a good thing, sweetheart," Dad said.

"Greg, I'm going to need a bat!" He yelled up the stairs. My eyes widened.

"Daddy, no!" Becky yelled.

"Dad! You can't be serious!" I demanded.

"No, I'm not going to hit the deer, I'm just going to…massage it's head with it for a little bit." I let out a chuckle. Typical Da. We continued our slow creep after the animal who had disappeared into the kitchen, leaving a path of destruction behind it..

"He's here," Dad said as we made it to the kitchen.

"And he's eating Bowsers food.." He added. Again, so funny, but I was way too nervous to laugh. I watched in apprehension as daddy carefully crept into the kitchen, Becky stood at the corner, Keithie right behind her, I stood behind Keithie, gripping his shoulders, Mom was behind me and Greg brought up the back.

"Okay, he knows we're here now. Stay, stay," Dad explained, holding his hand out to keep us back, I gladly did so. We came to a screeching halt, peering around the corner. The deer was scaring the hell out of our dog, and not giving a darn about this little fact while eating his food.

"Oh my God," I whispered. How are we going to get it out?! The deer's head turned to look at Becky. Uh oh, it has a target.

"What's it looking at?" Dad muttered, following it's gaze. "Move your doll towards me." Becky moved Mr. Gigglesworth, her stuffed monkey, towards dad.

"And back to you. Towards me. And back to you. Three times fast." He said.

"No way," I muttered. The target was the monkey. This could end badly. Very badly.

"Give me that thing," Dad demanded, snapping his fingers.

"Mr. Gigglesworth?" Becky asked.

"Don't worry. Put it in my hand," Dad lied, not taking his eyes off the deer for a split second.

"Roxanne, take them in there. Over there." Dad said, Mom then huddled us into the dining room where we stood and waited.

"Hey, dude. Do you like this guy?" He was talking to the deer as if it understood him.

"Huh? You want to play with him? Let's go play with him in the other room. Come on. Come on, man. Slowly walk with me. I said slowly." He moved past the door way, waving Gigglesworth around.

"I said slowly." Dad then began running and we all followed after him.

"Problem solved," Dad said as we all piled onto the porch behind him. Becky ran to the front and we all watched in horror as the deer picked Mr. Gigglesworth up, and shook it, tearing it to shreds.

"Mr. Gigglesworth! Daddy, he's killing him!" Becky cried. Oh no.

"New problem begins," Dad sighed.

"I'm sorry," he said, brushing at Becky's hair.

"Is that your bra, Mrs. Feder?" a male voice caused me to look down. The post man was getting up from the ground, a stupid smile plasetered on his face.

"Nice!" He chuckled, holding up his hand for a high-five

"Easy." Dad said. Mom crossed her arms over her chest and I moved in front of her, blocking her from the creeps view.

"Ew," Keithie glared at the man. Good little brother.

"It is pretty cool," Dad finally gave in and high-fived the man. I groaned and turned to walk into the house, knocking into my twin, who was clad only in a towel.

"Gross! Put on some pants dude!" I shuddered, pushing past him fully. He didn't respond and I ran up to finish getting ready for school. We had been in New England for 10 months now, and I wasn't particularly happy about moving at first, but it wasn't awful. In fact, I think I liked it better than L.A, I just missed all my friends. I walked into my room, which was on the larger side. Having a Hollywood producer for a parent wasn't always bad. It was painted a light pink color, and had quotes written all over it. I walked over to my vanity and looked at my reflection. I looked a lot like my Mother, dark hair and eyes and slight tan skin. I had a round face and wasn't thick, or too thin. Years of gymnastics and cheerleading and other sports made me toned. I finished my makeup and turned back to the clothes issue. As my time ticked away, I quickly went with a simple ensemble. I dressed in maroon short shorts, a black tank top, and black lace up boots. I had bracelets and a necklace on, I messily French braided my hair, putting it into a knot at the base of my neck, leaving some stray curly pieces out. I double checked my make up and ran down stairs. I was searching for a drink in the fridge when I heard footsteps approaching.

"Hey, uh, Gem, honey, sweetie, darling." Dad's tone revealed his displeasure; I turned from the fridge, Gatorade in hand.

"Yes daddy?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Where are the rest of your shorts?" He asked, pointing at them. I laughed and went to sit at the island, twisting off the cap of the drink.

"Dad, they aren't even that short." I said. And it was true. All the important parts were covered, and my butt cheeks didn't fall out when I bent over. I took a sip of my drink, contemplating on what I wanted to eat for breakfast.

"You may as well not even be wearing pants! And that top is too low! Who takes you shopping?!" He demanded. Just then Mom walked into the room.

"Mommy does." I said, pointing to her.

"Does what sweetheart?" Mom asked, grabbing a coffee thermos from one of our cabinets.

"Buys her half pairs of shorts and revealing tops!" Dad shouted, angry now.

"Lenny, she looks fine, I'm sure!" Mom insisted, looking over at me, I stood up, making sure she saw the entire outfit. I shook my head. I threw on my cardigan

"My top half is covered, happy?" I asked, twirling around.

"Yes. You look beautiful, as always." Mom gushed. Despite the fact she was a fashion designer, she never pushed me to dress up. Becky was all for that, so she could play dress up with her.

"No she doesn't! She's inviting people to look! I don't like that!" He snapped. I rolled my eyes and walked out of the kitchen to retrieve my backpack. I was really not enjoying this judging of my outfit choices. Greg walked down the stairs, thankfully fully clothed. I really wished I had not seen that…. Ew… Just…. I shuddered at the thought and looked up at my twin.

"Have you seen my bag?" I asked, shoving the thoughts from my mind.

"Dining room." He continued into the kitchen without even a glance. Ah, yes. I grabbed the bag and returned to the kitchen to eat. I settled next to Keithie and ate my waffles. After we finished breakfast, we all walked down to the driveway, save for Becky, who was going to ride her bike to school with Bean Lamansoff.

"Have the best last day of school my gorgeous children, I love you all!" Momma waved wildly out the window as she drove past us.

"Bye mom!" We all yelled back in unison. She drove off, leaving us in the hands of our father.


	2. Dude, you fugly

**Chapter Two: **

**Dude, you fugly.**

* * *

Dad was following Mom's car, and joined as at the end of the drive way. I was talking to Keithie who was very excited to be a sophomore

"I'm finally a senior!" I grinned happily, settling down next to Keithie on the rocks.

"Yeah, last day of school, Greg. Last chance to ask out Nancy Arbuckle," Keithie laughed, looking up at our brother.

"Yeah, you know, the girl you're totally in love with and has no idea you exist." I laughed along with my little brother, enjoying very much watching my twin squirm.

"Nancy Arbuckle?" Dad asked, bouncing a ball on Becky's helmet as she rode around him.

"You like a girl? Is that why you've been taking those long showers?" Oh. No. Ew.

"Gross, dad, really?!" I groaned, I really didn't want to be reminded.

"No!" Greg defended himself quickly.

"I, I'm conditioning my hair. That's all I do in the shower. Condition my hair." He added. And I felt my Dad was on the right track, I took shorter showers than him,

"Right," I scoffed

"Yeah, that's not what the deer told me," Dad laughed.

"That deer's a liar!" Greg shouted back.

"Oh-oh-oh," Dad chuckled.

"I heard," Becky piped in, driving in circles around us

"That too much conditioning can make you go blind." She drove past me and my eyes widened and my jaw dropped, letting a chuckle escape. Keithie and Greg laughed

"What!? Where'd you hear that?" Dad demanded.

"Higgins," Becky grinned back, as if it were obvious, which now that I think about it, it kind of is.

"Of course," I nudged Keithie who was laughing.

"Oh, I should kill him!" Dad didn't sound too angry with his best friend who didn't have children, so the whole censoring thing didn't really sit well… And now that I think about it, even with kids, he probably wouldn't… . I was busy picking at a thread on my boot when Keithie stood up and walked to stand with Dad and Greg.

"He's too chicken to ask her out, dad, because she's the hottest girl in school, and Greg is fugly." He stated.

"So what he's fugly? All the guys in our family are fugly. That don't stop us from getting the hot chicks. Look at me and look at your mother; I mean, that makes no sense, only like in a Hollywood movie or something." Dad laughed.

"Then I am really lucky I take after Mom then, aren't I?" I asked, earning a glare from my Dad. He wasn't doing well with the whole me growing up thing. It was his hope I would stay Becky's age forever. He almost had a heart attack when I announced I had my first boyfriend shortly after school started. But, he likes Tanner well enough.

"All the guys at school like her Dad!" Greg groaned.

"And you'll be the guy who ends up with her, you know why? You're going to follow my three step program. Number one: make the girl smile. Number two: tell her she has a nice smile. Number three: say she has to go out with you that night," Dad instructed, ticking off each of his fingers as he explained the situation.

"Why that night?" Greg and I asked at the same time. I was really curious at this point.

"Because it gives her less time to think about how fugly you are. Because you _are _fugly." Dad replied.

"That makes so much sense…." I nodded.

"It worked on your mother," Dad continued. I looked at him in surprise

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. And Keithie's right, I'm too chicken to even talk to her," Greg sighed, I frowned.

"Hey!" Dad yelled, causing me to jump back a little bit.

"You're a Feder! And Feder's aren't afraid of women; that's not how I'm raising you." He continued his unnecessary yelling.

"By the way, Dad, did you ask Mom if I can play football?" Keithie piped up, standing on Greg's other side.

"No! I was scared! I was afraid she was going to yell at me in that accent no one understands!" Dad replied, causing me to roll my eyes. Not afraid of women my butt.

"You're doomed bro." I sighed at Greg, who just glared at me.

"Shut up." He said. I shrugged grabbed my iPod and began to look for something to listen too. It was then I noticed Bean Lamonsoff rode up on his bike, looking cuter than ever.

"Come on Becky!" He called.

"It's eight o'clock, and school starts at eight-fifteen, which means we only have twenty five minutes to get there." He began to pedal away without glancing back at us. We all exchanged very confused looks. Was it a good idea for him and Becky to go without supervision?

"Daddy, you promise Mr. Gigglesworth will be better by bed time?" Becky's question caused me to look down at her and I began to feel bad about her stuffed monkey friend again.

"Will you stop worrying about him?! He'll be fine! I love you. Have the best last day, okay?" He asked, leaning down to kiss her cheek and then sent her on her way to school.

"Okay. Bye daddy, love you." She followed after Bean.

"And you read the street signs, okay? Don't let Bean!" He shouted after her. And then he looked at us.

"My god, riding their bikes to school. They could never do that in L.A. with all the nuts out there." He sighed happily, staring after them.

"Yeah, because thank god there's no crazy people out here," I said sarcastically, it was then I noticed the bus barreling towards us, and the brakes screeched as it came to a stop and the doors flung open.

"How you doing, Nick?" Dad greeted the crazy haired man who looked a little more off than usual.

"My wife's leaving me. After three weeks…" He replied. What a shocker… What normal woman would marry him?

"Three weeks? That's not bad for you. What happened?" Dad nodded.

"She found me eating a banana…..With my butt." That really was not what I expected, but it gave me a whole new outlook on Nick.

"Gross…" I whispered, sharing a disgusted look with my brothers.

"And she didn't like that?" Dad didn't really need to ask the question.

"Yeah, she got really bummed out. But, you know, I shouldn't have done it at her Mom's house." He seemed genuinely sad and all three of us kids couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, you seem like you're a little extra out of it today, what's going on?" Dad asked, I felt a little uncomfortable about getting on the bus with Nick acting like this. I mean, even normal Nick confused me on how he got a job around children in the first place…

"I'm a little medicated…" Nick nodded casually, and now I'm very afraid.

"I met a very reliable doctor at a concert and he floated me a couple pills just to feel better, you know?" He continued.

"But I don't feel better!" His voice got extremely high and then really low.

"You feel worse!" I took a step back, about ready to walk to school

"It's okay guys, I got this." Dad pushed us all on the bus and sent Nick to a different seat, where he immediately fell asleep.

"Can you even operate a bus?" I asked as

"You doubt your father? The best producer in Hollywood, can't even drive a bus?" Dad laughed,

"My bad." I chuckled, going to sit near Greg, as soon as I sat, the bus ride began. Over the course of the route, students piled on, and when Donna Lamensoff got on, you could tell. She was wearing boots that she made herself, and she seemed very happy with them, waving to me and Greg as she went and settled herself in a seat across from Keithie. We finally pulled up to the McKenzie's where Andre and Charlotte got on. Mr. McKenzie got on as well, sitting up front near our Dad. Charlotte sat next to Donna, and Andre sat next to Greg stating that he had a funny story to tell us. I instantly twisted around in my seat, eager to hear.

"What's up? Because, I am sure we can top it." I greeted.

"Doubt it! Mom forgot their anniversary. But Dad remembered." He laughed.

"Ouch. Is your Dad okay with it?" I asked, knowing Mr. McKenzie is going to use this to his complete advantage.

"Yeah, he's pretty psyched about it," Andre grinned.

"Of course he is." Greg laughed.

"What happened to you guys?" He asked.

"Oh! Becky left the door open last night and a deer got into the house. A huge one. I almost died this morning!" I exclaimed.

"What?" Andre laughed.

"Yeah, she thought it was cute." Greg nodded.

"She's crazy.." He sighed.

"Yep, but I think the real issue is Greg being in love with Nancy!" I grinned.

"She's hot," Andre smiled stupidly, and it was times like these that I wished I had more girls for friends…

"You really should take Dad's advice about asking her out. I mean it landed him Mom!" I said.

"What advice?" Andre asked.

"Some three step thing he told him always worked." I shrugged.

"You should do it man. The worse thing she could do is say no." Andre nodded.

"No. That's not the worst thing." Greg sighed.

"What else could she possibly do?" I asked.

"She could laugh at me and tell all her friends how pathetic I am!" He replied.

"You really need to have more confidence…" I sighed, shaking my head. Greg went to reply, but a scene a few seat back caught our attention. A very large, overweight boy wearing a camouflage jacket, and with shoulder length, surprisingly glossy hair, was picking on Donna,

"Where'd you get those shoes? Loser's R Us?!" He guffawed loudly, and I raised an eyebrow at him. Did he really think he was funny?

"I made them!" Donna replied, completely unfazed. You havta admit, she was confident and she owned it.

"You made them!? Where? In the toilet?!" Cue more laughter from the back of the bus. Idiots. All of them.

"That didn't make any sense." Charolette rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, leave her alone." Keithie defended her, and the bully's attention shifted to him, he grabbed my baby brothers shirt and lifted him up.

"What'd you say, Hollywood?" He snarled in his face, I glared at the boy and looked at Greg.

"Why are you looking at me?" He asked.

"Are you gonna do anything?" I shot back.

"He needs to take care of this on his own." Greg shrugged. I rolled my eyes and went to get up. No way was this kid getting away with this. He's done it too many times.

"I'll do it then." I said, but both boys instantly clamped down on my arm.

"Don't even think about it." Greg warned.

"What? Why?" I demanded.

"He will hate you if you do." He replied. I rolled my eys again.

"I'm doing him a favor." I assured, moving to get up again, but Andre grasped my shoulder and held me in place.

"He's right," He agreed.

"Boys are stupid." I slumped back into my seat, shaking their hands off me, glaring at the kid.

"Attention Kmart shoppers, uh, let's find a seat please, yes you in the camouflage jacket and the Mariah Carey hairdo, yeah, just pop a squat. Thank you." Dad's voiced sounded from the speakers and I was very thankful he was there. The kid ignored him though, opting to threaten Keithie some more.

"Beanbag with arms and legs, seriously, take a seat, or seats, before someone gets hurt." Dad's voice had an edge on it now, the kid was entering dangerous territory. Dad wouldn't hold me back. I hope. Everyone else laughed and this finally made the kid decide to back down.

"You're dead man." He shot at Keithie before skulking back to his seat, leaving my little brother wide eyed in his. Well Daddy, you made things worse. We finally pulled up to the school, and I noticed our principal's car was flooded with blue paint. I laughed and piled off the bus with the rest of the kids, and waited beside Dad and Mr. McKenzie,

"Bye Rapunzel." Dad noted to the bully. I chuckled into my hand,

"GEMMA!" I heard my best friend yell from across the school grounds.

"Bye Daddy, bye Mr. M." I waved, backing away.

"Bye sweetheart. Make good choices! Don't have sex!" Dad shouted after me and I rolled my eyes.

"No worries!" I jogged to Alyssa, smiling at her.

"So which are you more excited about? Being a senior or being cheer captain?" She asked.

"Hey, don't jinx me!" I warned, today was the day I would find out if I made cheer captain, it was me against Megan Foster, a good friend of mine.

"You're gonna get it. Don't even worry." She assured, and the bell rang.

"The bell. Have to get to my locker. See you after?" She asked. I nodded and she ran off, I shook my head. She was crazy. I ran into the building, blending in with the flow of students heading into the brick building.


	3. The Appearance of Braden Higgens

**Chapter Three: The Appearance of Braden Higgins. **

The first class of my day was World History, which I had with both Greg and Andre. I walked into the room and sat in my usual spot next to Greg, and Andre sat behind him, and pulled a book out of my back pack. Hunger Games to be exact. One of my favorites.

"Alright little birds, find your nests, man," Mr. Nole, our hippy teacher called as the final bell started to ring. I looked up at him and my eyes widened at the sight of the lumberjack standing next to him. The boy… or man…. Covered in tattoos, glaring harshly at everyone. He had shaggy blonde hair, and a mustache and was very tall, and muscly. He looked a little bit like Higgy…. I looked over at Greg and Andre,

"Was he there the whole time?" I whispered, it was impossible not to notice him, they both shrugged, I shook my head and went back to reading.

"Float down, there we go, and…. we're…. _in_." The last of my classmates filed in, the whole school was extremely excited that it was the last day of school, I was surprised we had such a turn out. And the fact that today was only a half day made things seem to go even slower. I just had to hold out until 1…

"Alright, guys, normally we don't have exciting news this late into the term, but, we have a new student joining us today." Mr. Nole's voice pulled me away from my book again and I imagine this announcement had something to do with lumberjack man. I looked over at Greg and Andre and all three of us exchanged looks. It was weird enough that he was a new kid coming on the last day of school, and his size and look didn't help the matter.

"This is Braden Higgins." My eyes grew wide. No way. Just a coincidence. I still turned to the two boys again, who looked just as confused and curious as me.

"Hey, there's an empty seat over there, man, why don't you go pop a squat?" Mr. Nole pointed at an empty seat at the opposite end of the room, but Braden ignored him. He didn't even look in the direction Mr. Nole pointed to. He instead, focused on the seat behind me, where Jonah, a really sweet and smart kid sat. Braden stalked down the aisle and stood between Greg and I, glaring down at Jonah. I shifted to see what was going on and was only slightly shocked to find Jonah holding out his wallet to Braden.

"No," Braden's voiced matched his look,

"I sit here.." He stated simply. Not too threatening, but enough to cause Jonah to jump up and run across to the original seat Mr. N had pointed out. I sighed and turned back to my book, looking for my place, when I heard Andre and Greg turn to Braden. Oh boy…. They could not have waited, could they?

"Is your dad Marcus Higgins?" Greg asked. Way to get right to the point there bro. I tried to keep my curiosity at bay, but it didn't work,

"Yeah, I've known him since I was a baby, he's the funniest," Andre added.

"The best. Great, great man," Greg continued. Nothing was said, and I grew a little nervous.

"I wanna smash his face," Braden replied, rather seriously, after a second of tense quiet. That's all it took and the boys eyes widened.

"Yeah, me too," Andre agreed, nodding his head vigorously.

"Yeah, hate that guy," Greg scoffed, turning to the front.

"Screw him," Andre faced the front too and I couldn't hold in my laugh this time. Those two were too much sometimes. Class ended soon after, without much more of an incident, and I walked out to meet up with Alyssa before our second period.

"Gemma! I have great news!" She exclaimed upon seeing me.

"What's up?" I asked. What could have possibly happened in the last forty five minutes?

"Meagan Foster is pregnant!" She declared quietly, looking around at our fellow students to see if they were listening. Wow… A lot can happen…

"WHAT?! Wait… Why are you so happy about this?" I asked.

"Because, it was only you two up for captain. If she's out, you're a shoe in!" She linked her arm through mine and began to babble away about planning future routines together. My mind was still reeling.

"Hey, hey. Chill out there! We aren't even sure she's really pregnant, we shall have to wait and find out after class today." I said. No use in planning for something that may not even be true. Why did high school have to be run by rumors?!

"You have no faith!" She groaned. The bell began to ring and all the student in the hallway began to rush to their next class.

"There's the bell. Let's get to English!" I began to pull her along and when we made it to the class, I saw Braden in there. Crap.

"Whoa… Who's the giant?" Lyssa asked as we passed by him. He had the same expression as the one in Nole's class. I was beginning to think it's a permanent expression.

"He was in my World History, he's a friend of my Dad's son." I replied, shrugging as we took our seats.

"He's kinda cute." She said thoughtfully, eyeing him up and down. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"I thought you like guys like Cole? Ya know, football players.. Jocks… Pretty boys…" I muttered the last one. She still heard me though and shot me a glare.

"Shut up..." She grumbled. I laughed,

"Come on, you have to admit, it was odd the fact he took more time to get ready in the morning than both of us combined!" I said.

"He cared about his appearance is all!" She defended. I just shrugged and felt someone cover my eyes.

"Hey Tanner." I smiled, turning to my boyfriend of 8 months. He smiled back at me happily.

"Hey Gem." He kissed my cheek and sat in the seat in front of me.

"How's your day going so far?" I asked. Our conversation was cut short by our teacher, and the rest of the day went on swimmingly. Until it was time for the cheer meeting. I was walking with Lys towards Coach Lynne's office when we heard two voices.

"You're absolutely sure Meg?" A familiar male voice asked, sounding extremely panicked.

"Yes! I took 3 tests and got it confirmed at the doctor! Now what the hell do you want to do?!" A female demanded,

"I don't know! I still have Gemma to think about!" He snapped back. My mouth dropped and I felt the air leave my lungs. Lys' eyes were wide and we stared at each other.

"Oh who gives a shit about Gemma! If you really loved her, you would not have come crawling to me!" Meaghan snapped back. Lys snapped out of it, and went to round the corner. I quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"We were drunk!" He growled, I backed away and attempted to wrap my head around what I just heard. Meaghan was pregnant. And Tanner… My boyfriend… Was the father….

"I'll kill him." She seethed, I gripped her tighter and she seemed to calm down.

"Let's go, we can go the long way…" She tried to pull my arm but I stopped her.

"No. It's fine. Let's go this way." I said, nodding in the direction of the two voices.

"You sure?" She asked. I smiled.

"Yeah, I know what to do." I said. We linked arms and walked towards the voices. Tanner was rounding the corner, looking downtrodden, and his eyes grew wide when he saw me.

"Hey baby!" I greeted. He gave me a nervous smile.

"Hey Gem… Look, I gotta go… See you at the Ice Cream House?" He asked, I nodded.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world!" I replied, kissing him. I then walked away, dragging a glaring Lys with me, she was glaring at him harshly.

"What?! You're still going on that date?!" She demanded, turning back to me after he rounded the corner, disappearing from view.

"Can you just trust me? I know what I am going to do." I assured her, pushing the door open to enter the gym. The entire team was there, including Meaghan, who was crying. The others were talking, and looking at her in concern.

"Great! Everyone is here!" Coach Lynne clapped her hands together and we all sat down on the bleachers.

"Now, both Meaghan and Gemma are more than qualified to lead this team, but we can only choose one to be captain. And through votes and serious observation, I think we came to the right idea." Lynne gestured to the two other coaches, Jessie and Jason, who both smiled. She held up and envelope and began to open it.

"And you're captain, is…. Oh, what is it Meg?" Meaghan's hand shot up into the air, and she was looking at the ground.

"I have to leave the squad." She said.

"We haven't even said…" Lynne shook the envelope but Meg was shaking her head.

"It's not that…. I…. I…. I'm leaving… Soon…. And…" She trailed off and looked up at us, and when her eyes met mine, she looked away, a guilty look on her face. I smiled back.

"Well… Then I guess this goes without saying…. Gemma Feder is captain!" Lynne pulled the paper out and my name was on that too, the whole team erupted into cheers and there were hugs all around. Meagan left the gym so fast, there was a smoke trail behind her.

"This is great!" Lys squealed.

"I know!" I tried smiling back, but my mind fell to thinking about Tanner… What had I done that made him crawl to Meg? I wasn't mean too him… We didn't really fight… And with nearly 8 months of dating, he never once tried to get me to do anything… Then again, I wasn't too keen on doing much aside from making out. I just was not ready for it…. I had been so deep in thought, I hadn't noticed Lys had begun babbling about routines again.

"You're not even listening…" She sighed, slumping.

"No, I am… I just.. I don't know… I should just go. I need to clear my head." I replied. She frowned.

"Okay…" She said. I nodded and got up. I thanked the coaches for my opportunity and left. I muddled through the rest of the day and before I knew it, it was time to leave. I was walking with Greg and Andre, thinking of ways to dump Tanner…

"Gemma! What the heck is wrong with you?!" Andre demanded, pulling me up after I walked straight into an open locker.

"Sorry … Thinking" I muttered, rubbing the sore spot that was sure to be a bruise.

"What's going on with you? You haven't been talkative since after the meeting thing." Greg asked. I sighed and bit my lip. He was my twin and my best friend. I could trust him. Plus maybe talking about it will help in the long run.

"If I tell you, you can't tell Dad…" I replied. He nodded. I looked at Andre, who nodded too,

"I'm serious you guys. You have to promise me." I said,

"We promise, just tell us!" Andre replied. I sucked in a deep breath and spat out the truth.

"Tanner got Meagan Foster pregnant…" I said. Their jaws dropped.

"He's a dead man." Greg's fist clenched, and I quickly put a hand on his arm.

"It's fine, really. No killing necessary." I soothed, I pulled him slightly, wanting desperately to get out of the school.

"I'm sorry Gem…" Andre whispered as we walked.

"It's fine… I am just trying to think of a way to dump him creatively…" I replied.

"Don't go creative, do it harsh! In fact, I will do it for you!" Greg replied. When it came to me, he was a lot like Dad as far as being protective.

"No, bro, it's fine…" I replied, we walked up to find Braden standing near the bus loop, looking around.

"I'm going to run into town actually. Catch up with you guys later." I said, beginning to walk off,

"Where are you going?" Greg asked. I turned around, walking backwards.

"To the baby store!" I called back. Yep. I thought of the perfect way. I called Lys and informed her of the plan.

"That is brilliant..." She replied, laughing slightly.

"I know, it will be just perfect." I said. Once I got to the local baby store, I picked out some little outfits and various other things and then ran to grab some generic wrapping supplies. Once I was finished, it was time to meet Tanner. It was only 2, I had to be back at home by 5:30 for dinner. I grabbed the present and found Tanner there.

"Hello beautiful." He smiled. I forced a smile back, using all my self-control not to slap him.

"Hey, here, I brought you something." I wanted to get this over with. Meg and her friend Kristen were a few tables away, eating ice cream and casting glances over occasionally. I beamed at her and she stopped, becoming very interested in her ice cream.

"Let's get the ice cream first. Is Greg here yet?" He asked, leading me over to where we ordered the ice cream.

"No, not until tonight." I replied. I ordered a soft serve vanilla with Oreos and sprinkles, but not without being mocked by Mr. Bailey. The man really needed to let the past go. I mean, it was like 3 years ago that crap happened. Ignoring him, we sat at a table and he smiled at me.

"You make me really happy Gem." He said, I laughed slightly.

"Do I?" I asked, he nodded. His green eyes were searching my face, hoping I was believing him. I handed him the present.

"What's this for?" He asked, a huge smile on his face.

"I just felt like doing something special for you." I replied, I ate my ice cream as he ripped into the present. As he unwrapped the outfits, his face grew really confused.

"What…" He asked, looking up at me, almost in horror. I smiled at him, a sarcastic and almost mean smile. I could feel my throat tightening, and I was losing all my nerve. I just needed to get this whole thing over with, before I lose it.

"Don't play dumb," I sighed. He only frowned and I shook my head.

"I know about you and Meaghan. I decided to congratulate you, I went gender neutral, since she's not too far along. I wish you guys the best of luck." I explained, standing up, making my way to leave.

"Gemma, no…. Let me explain." He jumped up and grabbed my arm but I snatched it out of his grasp, feeling the tears well up in my eyes. People were looking at us, and I knew I needed to get out of there fast.

"No, there is nothing to explain. You cheated, end of story. We are over Tanner." I spat, wiping the tears away. He just stared at me, looking upset. I shook my head.

"I've got to go." I grumbled. As I left the stand, I saw Meg looking horrified at me. I rolled my eyes and all but sprinted away towards my home. My walk home was calming, and I was beginning to feel a little better. I was down the block from my Mom's boutique when I saw a giant tire coming down the middle of the rode, my Dad, Mr. Lamansoff and Fabio, a very masculine woman that worked with Mr. Lamansoff came running after it.

"Higgin's is in the tire!" He shouted. My eyes widened, and I noticed my Mom was walking towards me

"GEMMA!" My baby sister exclaimed happily from the top of some superhot guys shoulders.

"Hey Becky. How'd your solo go today?" I asked.

"Really good!" She replied.

"She did awesome. Just like you." Mom smiled at me, placing an arm around my shoulder. I smiled slightly. It was then I heard shouting, and I turned my attention to the scene before me.

"YOU LIED ABOUT THE SOUP!" It was Braden, tears rushing down his face. My eyes widened at the sight. Within moments, the chaos had subdued and Mom, Becky, and I went home to work on dinner, while Dad ran off to go do something.


	4. 80s Style

**Chapter Four: 80's Style. **

Mom, Becky, and I walked into the house, there was no longer evidence that a deer was here earlier that day.

"I'm going to start on dinner." Mom announced, Becky ran upstairs to her room, and I followed Mom,

"How was your last day of school?" She asked, pulling pots and pans out of the cabinets.

"Not bad," I shrugged.

"Well, we are going to have a party tonight." She said, I did a double take.

"A party? When did you decide this?" I asked.

"Your father did, today. It's no big deal, I think it'll be fun. Maybe we could even do a theme, huh?" She suggested, and I nodded.

"Sounds like fun." I said.

"You could invite Tanner." She said. I felt my stomach lurch at the thought of seeing him again.

"Actually, that would be rather awkward." I informed her, washing the vegetables she handed me. She stopped looking for spices and turned to me.

"Why is that?" She asked.

"Tanner and I broke up." I shrugged nonchalantly, turning back to the veggies.

"What do you mean?! What happened?!" She asked. I turned to her, feeling the urge to cry again.

"He got Megan pregnant." I replied, the words still sounded funny to me. Her jaw dropped, and opened and closed a few more times.

"Yep, that was my reaction." I chuckled, setting the veggies on the cutting board.

"Oh baby, I'm sorry." She pulled me into a hug, and I couldn't hold my tears in any longer. About 10 minutes passed, until I calmed down, pulling away and wiping away my tears.

"Sorry…" I whispered.

"Don't apologize baby. I understand." She assured. I nodded.

"Why don't you go wash up, calm down? I'll finish this." She gestured to the food and I nodded. I walked out of the kitchen and up to my room, I jumped in the shower, since those always made me feel better. Once I was finished, I dressed and walked downstairs, feeling a lot better. Mom was finishing up with dinner when I walked back in.

"There you are, I think I found a theme!" She declared. She knew me, she wasn't going to pry until I wanted to talk,

"What were you thinking?" I asked. She was cut off from replying by her phone ringing.

"Hello?" She asked. A minute or two passed and her calm expression changed to one of rage. And she all of a sudden started ranting in Spanish. I understood a little of what she was saying, and it sounded like my Dad had messed up in some way.

"I'll be there soon." Mom huffed. She hung the phone up and turned to me.

"I have to go meet your father at the hospital, Keithie broke his leg." She said. My jaw fell open.

"How did that happen?" I asked,

"I don't know. But can you finish this?" She asked, I nodded and took over the cooking. Greg arrived home shortly after, looking disgusted. I'm guessing Andre was at his driving test.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked,

"I saw something no kid should _ever_ see." He shuddered, searching through the refrigerator

"Do I even want to know?" I asked. He looked at me.

"No you don't…." He said, I shrugged.

"How did your thing with Tanner go?" He asked

"Good, got the point across I think." I replied. He nodded and then walked out. A few hours later, we were all gathered around the table, eating dinner. I was sipping on my water when my Dad spoke, causing me to look up at him.

"Okay, everybody. It wasn't a perfect day, I admit. There were some downs. Sorry about the leg." He raised his glass of Pepsi in the air, casting a look over at Keithie who was propping his cast clad leg on the table. Keithie shrugged it off though, seeing as how it was an accident. Mom had finally calmed down too.

"The good news is the children got through another year of school, fabulously. You got older, even though I told you not to." He continued, looking at each of us before focusing on Becky, causing us to laugh.

"Especially you, stay young. Don't leave me. Either of you." Dad said, shifting to look at me and I laughed again. He turned back to Mom

"You prepared us your famous chicken-a-la-food poisoning, which we are all excited to eat. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding." Dad added, Mom laughed and threw a vegetable at him.

"But the greatest thing is that it is my favorite part of the day with my five best friends." He waved his fingers at us, causing all of us to smile. I wouldn't trade my family for anything in the world. They were crazy, but I loved them.

"To the Feders." Dad hoisted his cup in the air then downed it.

"Yeah!" We all cheered, and continued eating. As dinner progressed, Dad turned to me.

"How did things go with cheer today, Gem?" He asked. My eyes widened and I smiled. I had been so caught up over Tanner, I forgot I made captain!

"Well… They went pretty good. I got it!" I said, and they all cheered.

"That's my girl!" Dad exclaimed, a little while later, Dad noticed Greg wasn't eating.

"Homeboy, why aren't you eating?" Dad asked him, pointing at his plate.

"Seriously? I worked hard on that food!" I added. Greg looked at our Dad with a weird expression on his face.

"Ah, I saw something today that made me lose my appetite." He explained.

"What was it? Me naked?" Dad chuckled. The look on my twin's face said it all. Greg was staring at our Dad with a horrified look that clearly asked how the hell did you know?

"What?" Dad asked, clearly confused.

"Anyway, Mom, before you left you said something about the party?" I filled the awkward silence that settled and Mom looked at me.

"What were you thinking?" Dad asked her,

"I think it would be fun to have a theme, no?" Mom said.

"What theme?" Greg and I asked at the same time.

"The 80s." Mom replied, placing her hands on the table.

"The 80s!?" Keithie questioned, looking at our Dad, who seemed to be liking the idea.

"Why don't you ask Nancy Arbuckle come by for the get together? Or do you prefer the imaginary shower version?" Keithie grinned up at Greg, turning back to finish his dinner. I laughed until Greg grabbed Keithie's broken leg, which was propped up on the table, and slammed it back on the table.

"AHH!" Keithie howled, causing Mom to glare at him and Dad, Becky, and I to wince. Dinner was over quickly, and each of us ran off to go get ready. Greg had to go to work, so he would miss the beginning of the party, and I had no idea what to wear.

"What did people wear in the 80s?" I asked, helping my mother put the dishes in the dish washer.

"You've seen movies, just base it off that!" Mom replied, seeming very distracted. I hopped up on the counter and watched as she tried to put the left overs in the cabinet.

"You okay Momma?" I asked. She stopped flitting about and looked at me.

"Yes, sorry, I am a bit distracted myself." She replied.

"What's going on? Is it serious?" I asked, she shook her head,

"Nothing we can't handle." She assured, merely confusing me more.

"Well, I will go get ready then," I hopped down off the counter and walked out of the kitchen. Once in my room, I pulled out my phone and saw Lyssa had texted me about the party. Realizing it was only a few hours away, I jumped up and started burrowing threw my closet. I decided to go with Flashdance. I set the outfit out on my bed and turned when I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" I called. My Dad walked in.

"We are going to the store, want to come?" He asked,

"Sure!" I nodded, anything to get out of the house would be welcome. I grabbed my phone and followed dad out and as we walked downstairs, he asked me the dreaded question.

"Where's Tanner?" I tensed. I didn't want to lie to him, but I didn't want to tell him the whole truth either.

"He and I broke up." I replied, his head whipped around

"Really?" It was shocking to them too. Okay, at least I wasn't crazy in thinking he and I had been fine.

"Daddy, if it's alright…. Can we not talk about it?" I asked, he looked a little put out, but then nodded.

"Thank you!" I sighed, I walked into the kitchen where Becky and Mom were waiting.

"Ready to go?" Mom asked, I nodded, looking at Dad. He nodded and we all walked out of the house. We walked through the grocery store, and Mom turned to me, tearing the list down the middle.

"Why don't you take care of this half?" She asked, handing me a side.

"Yes ma'am." I took the sheet from her and began my search for the items. I was on my way to grab a basket when I ran square into someone.

"Oomph, sorry!" I gasped, looking up to find Braden. I backed away, Braden glared at first but his face softened when he saw me.

"It's okay…. ?" He looked at me in curiosity, and then I realized I hadn't even introduced myself earlier.

"I'm Gemma, Greg's twin sister." I said. He nodded,

"What are you doing?" He asked. I held the list up,

"Shopping with my parents for tonight." I replied, pointing back in the general direction they had come.

"Need some help?" He asked,

"Sure." I smiled, I grabbed the basket I had set my sights on originally, and began walking toward the chip isle.

"What brings you here?" I asked, looking up at him in curiosity.

"My Dad needs me to get some hair gel for our costumes." He shrugged.

"Ah, what are y'all going as?" I asked.

"Hall and Oates." He replied, I nodded, Marcus would choose something like that.

"What about you?" He asked.

"Alex from Flashdance," I replied. He looked surprised.

"Does that even count?" He chuckled, I laughed too,

"I don't know, but that's what I'm going for." I replied, placing some chips into the cart. He nodded. We walked through the isles, grabbing what was necessary, just talking about random things. He told me about his Mom in Florida, and about being unsure about Marcus.

"Well, if you don't mind me saying…. Marcus may be a pig, but he's a really great guy." I said. Marcus was always there when you needed someone to talk too, or even just general cheering up. Like a wacky uncle, who slept around a lot. We were finished with the list, and I noticed my Mom and Dad weren't done yet.

"Well, I better go." He said, holding his hair gel, nodding the growing lines of the dinner rush.

"Okay, I should find my family before I'm stuck paying for this on my own…. See you tonight?" I asked, he smiled at me, I found myself grinning back, I mean, he had an adorable smile!

"Definitely." He nodded, he walked into the far 10 items or less line, and I felt very excited for tonight all of a sudden. I smiled again, and went to find my family, and I found my Dad, and Becky by the drinks.

"I used to but twelve cases of beer for my parties, now I buy 12 cases of juice." Dad was grumbling as I walked up.

"It's not that bad, daddy." I sighed, he looked at me, going to respond when the same hot guy from earlier walked up

"Beckster!" He called,

"Hey stud muffin!" Becky grinned back,

"Becky!" I gasped, laughing slightly at the nickname. She turned to me.

"What? Mommy calls him stud muffin, so I call him stud muffin." She shrugged, my eyes widened and I looked at my Dad, whose jaw was set, in anger or horror, I am not sure.

"So, uh, how is it you know my wife again, er, mud stuffing?" Dad asked, and I gasped yet again. The guy didn't seem to notice,

"Oh, I worked her out this morning." He replied. And I about fainted on the spot.

"Really? Because I worked her out this morning too, pretty good." Dad nodded and I shook my head. This was insane. All of a sudden, some lady walked up and gasped when she saw my Dad. This ought to be good.


	5. Parties and Angry College Kids

**Chapter Five: Parties and Angry College Kids. **

Dad turned to the gasping lady, who I recognized now as Penny, who works at my Mom's boutique. She always seemed a little weird, just something about her wasn't right. And I was slightly offended she got a job there and I didn't.

"Sup?" He asked, pulling me back into the present, I looked up at him, where'd he get the gum?!

"Well this is awkward!" She sighed, I turned back to Penny and arched an eyebrow at her.

"Why is this awkward?" Dad asked, she rolled her eyes

"My husband is here!" She whispered, pointing behind her. I exchanged confused look with Becky, who introduced me to the hot guy, whose name was Kyle, and apparently teaches a workout class at the local gym that my mom goes too.

"What time is it?" Another male spoke, and I turned to see Wylie walking up. He gave me the creeps sometimes, just sulking around and appearing out of nowhere.

"Oh nothing! Just, uh, just time to…." She turned Dad, looking up at him expectantly. Dad, just like me, just stared at her, wondering what the hell her problem was. I'm guessing they're extensive.

"Help me out here!" She whispered desperately, glancing at her husband as if she was hiding something important. Okay, I know my parents loved each other, neither would ever cheat on the other. What was this woman on?

"Well… Uh… I'm not sure… Hey, Wylie, how'd Andre McKenzie do? Did he pass his test?" Dad asked, Wylie rolled his eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if he said no. Wylie hated us, it took me 4 times to get my license, because he kept testing me. Finally, my Mom went with us, and demanded to see what I was doing wrong. Needless to say, I got a perfect score.

"He squeaked by! We didn't check out any soapy cheerleaders!" He shouted the end, looking at his wife. Who was staring at my Dad. This is so weird.

"What's going on with you and my wife?" Wylie asked, noticing the woman's behavior.

"I'm gonna go!" Kyle spoke, turning to leave. Dad nodded.

"Why don't we all go? I don't see any of these conversations working out for me." He shook his head.

"See you guys later!" Kyle said, walking away.

"Hey! I'll bring the Hubba Bubba." Penny stuffed something into my Dad's hand before turning on her heel.

"What?" Dad asked. She just walked away from him, disappearing around the corner.

"Oh yeah. Party tonight, 80's style! Rocky 3!" Wylie smiled, apparently not noticing the exchange, doing some punching moves, until his wife returned to yell at him. It was then Mom walked back up.

"Hey babe." Dad greeted, Mom glared in the direction Wylie and crazy lady had walked off too

"What does Penny's note say?" She asked, Dad unfolded the paper and I peered over his shoulder. It was a shopping list.

"She wrote: Mayonaise, ziti…" Mom cut him off,

"The other side." Dad flipped the note over, and read it out loud.

"Meet me by your mailbox at 11…. Why would I meet her by my mailbox at 11?" He asked, looking at us. Mom glared yet again, and snatched the note from his hand and shoved it into her mouth before strutting away.

"Do you have any idea what just happened here?" Dad asked Becky and I.

"Not a clue." We replied. He shook his head again, and followed after Mom. Becky and I followed him. 30 minutes later, we were back home, and getting ready for the party. Lyssa came over to get ready with me.

"Do you think Tanner will show up?" She asked, looking over some of the makeup she had brought with her. I shrugged, pulling on my leg warmers.

"I don't know… Probably." I replied, reaching for a pair of black dance shoes. Although I hate shoes, I may just go barefoot. I frowned down at the shoes.

"You think he'll bring Meg?" She asked, I looked back up at her.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"You weren't listening? I asked if you think Tanner will bring Meg!" She rolled her eyes, I decided I wasn't go to wear shoes. I threw them into my closer as I shrugged again, walking over to examine myself in the mirror. The grey sweater covered my black booty shorts and made it look like I wasn't wearing any pants. Very 80's. Now for hair and makeup.

"Who knows? I don't really care though… The two could get married and have more kids. It doesn't affect me," I replied, turning around to face her. She sighed.

"If you say so." She said. She was wearing an outfit that resembled Star from the Lost Boys. I nodded and we finished getting ready, once we were finished, we walked downstairs, and sat with Keithie and Becky.

"How long ago was the 1980's?" Becky asked.

"It was a really long time ago in the 1900s…" Keithie began to explain, I zoned out and walked to find my Mom, who's outfit was wild.

"Anything I can do to help?" I asked her, she turned from where she was setting up some chips.

"Sure sweetheart, could you finish up setting out the food? Just the cake I think is all that's really left." She said, I nodded and she walked out, grabbing some earrings from the counter as she teetered away. I began to finish the food, and had just put the awesome Rubik's Cube cake onto the counter when the doorbell rang. Lyssa walked in and sat at a stool,

"Adults are arriving," She frowned, grabbing a chip.

"My Dad's friends are pretty great!" I assured her, she shrugged. Marcus and Braden walked into the kitchen

"Hey Gemma! Gemma's friend. Who's ready to get their party on?!" Marcus exclaimed, doing a little dance. I laughed at him as Braden rolled his eyes, smirking a little bit. Now that the two were next to each other, you could see the similarities, I mean, it was like Dr. Evil and Mini Me sizes…. They were indeed dressed as Hall and Oates.

"Marcus this is Alyssa, she cheers with me." I introduced. Lyssa waved,

"Oh yeah, Lenny told us you made Captain, way to go girl!" He leaned in and I high fived him, Braden gave me a curious look and I just smiled.

"Thanks." I chuckled. Soon after that, everyone else began to show up, and for a little bit, it was just the old crew hanging out. Dad, Kurt, Marcus and Eric all sat in wooden chairs, drinking and talking. Mom and the other wives were all up at the house doing the same thing. Braden began swinging Becky and Bean around in a circle, and I smiled at the sight. Keithie and Lyssa were chatting away, along with Donna. Greg was at work. Charolette as it turns out was on a date with some kid, Deanna was all excited, Kurt was slightly annoyed. I wasn't feeling right still, so I went back inside. Food would always help.

"There you are." A deep voice caused me to drop my chips as I spun around to find Braden standing in the doorway.

"You were looking for me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He smirked slightly, causing my stomach to flutter.

"Maybe." He said, he walked over and sat next to me.

"Why are you in here all by yourself?" He asked, I shrugged,

"Just not in the partying mood I guess." I replied,

"Is it because of what happened earlier? With your boyfriend?" He asked, my eyes widened and I stared up at him.

"Greg told me why you were going to the baby store." He explained and at the moment, I wanted to kill Greg. That was not his business to tell!

"Yeah…. That probably has something to do with it." I sighed.

"Well… If you don't mind me saying, he's a real idiot for doing what he did." He said, I shrugged.

"I can't be that great if he went to find her." I said, Braden huffed, and jumped up all of a sudden. I scooted away,

"Come on." He held his hand out and I arched an eyebrow at it.

"Come on what?" I asked, he rolled his eyes and pulled me up

"You're coming with me and having fun. You're not allowed to sit in here and mope. And if you see your ex, tell me and I'll punch him." He proceeded to pull me out the door.

"Braden!" I whined. Why couldn't he just leave me to sulk?

"No whining! It's a party; we are going to have fun!" He ordered, I groaned. Stupid boy.

"Fine!" I stomped my foot, glaring up at him. I allowed him to lead me out into the middle of the people that were dancing. And soon, all my issues were forgotten. I was laughing and talking with Lyssa, dancing with Braden. The entire town was here, everyone was just having a great time.

"Your Dad really knows how to throw a party!" Lyssa exclaimed, she was dancing with her long time crush Bobby, and the two seemed to be hitting it off.

"Hey! Gemma! Do you know where your father is?" Mom asked, walking up. I turned to survey the area, Braden's arms latched around my waist. I finally found my Dad sitting across the lawn with some people.

"He's over there." I pointed, she nodded and walked away, Becky wandering behind her, rubbing her eyes and yawning. We continued dancing and talking when the J Geils Band showed up and began preforming. Braden pulled me to the front, where everyone was and we jumped around, dancing to the music. All of a sudden the music cut off, but the singing continued. We found the source- Charlotte McKenzie. And damn. She could sing. She seemed to notice the music was gone and all the attention was on her and she stopped, looking down at her feet.

"Charlotte? Where did you learn to sing like that?" Mr. Kurt asked.

"I just sing a little in the shower." She admitted. You could see the pride on her parents faces, and then Bumpty, some weird sophomore started to rap, to which Mrs. Dee threatened him, and he shut up instantly. We got the music started up again and the party continued, until another interruption. Everyone seemed to focus on in,

"What's going on over there?" I asked, Braden and Lyssa shrugged, and we followed the crowd of people. They were surrounding two people, my Dad, and some bald guy. The two exchanged some words. Dad backed away, getting ready to punch the man, who all of a sudden dropped to his knees.

"NO! NO! PLEASE DON'T HIT ME!" The man yelled, this caused everyone to be really confused.

"The only reason I picked on you was because I was scared of you!" The guy groveled.

"Oh my God…" I whispered, everyone was believing the charade, as my father yelled at the man, in an overdramatic away, basically threatening to turn him into a puddle. I rolled my eyes. The scene ended as Mr. Clean walked away, and everyone began to congratulate my Dad, and the festivities continued. Within minutes, it was as if nothing ever disturbed the partiers, and things were back into full swing.

"Gemma! There you are!" The voice I had been dreading to hear made its way over the music and to my eardrums. I spun to see Tanner there, not dressed for the party.

"Why are you here Tanner?" Lyssa growled.

"I need Gemma to hear me out, to let me explain." He said, Braden stepped forward, towering over Tanner by a good foot.

"She said leave her alone." He said. I placed a hand on his arm, and stepped from behind him. Tanner went to respond, but we were all cut off.

"WOOT WOOT WOOT!" I looked up to see probably the scariest and strangest sight ever. It was a bunch of kids, older than me, most likely college, and they all stood in a massive line, looking pretty angry about something.

"What the hell is going on now?!" I demanded, everyone seems to notice this and soon, our two groups were in an epic face off.

"College kids that don't look too friendly…" Bobby muttered. I nodded, this night just wasn't going to go smoothly for us at all was it?

* * *

**Hello my lovely readers! I know the romance between Gemma and Braden is going slow, but I promise after this, it will pick up! Don't lose faith just yet. So, let me know what you think! **

**Much love, **

**Rhey!**


	6. In Which We Kick Some Ass

**Chapter 6: Let The Summer Begin. **

"I don't think they're here for the party." Lyssa whispered, staring at the kids, most of whom looked murderous. Some of the boys were holding lacrosse sticks while others were just getting themselves ready to charge at us.

"I can't believe it. We have hit the moron jackpot!" One in the middle of the group shouted, he seemed to be the leader.

"Everybody who needs a beating is all here on _one_ lawn." He continued, looking down on all of us. What had any of us done to them? I looked up at Braden, who was glaring up at the group.

"Excuse me, why are you here? What's the matter?" Mom stepped out of the crowd with Deanne and Sally following, they stood in a line a little bit away

"I will tell you what the matter is!" A kid next to the leader, mocked my mother's accent, my fist clenched as I glared at him.

"These old townies trashed our frat house." His voice turned back to normal as he had a little spaz attack pointing at my Dad and the other guys. I rolled my eyes, these guys were dumb... My Dad and his friends may be crazy, but vandalism isn't their style.

"And nobody treats our good time headquarters with disrespect!" Spaz continued, causing the rest of the idiots to cheer in agreement. Braden stepped forward, I looked up at him in confusion.

"They didn't do it. Me do it." He growled, cracking his neck as he glared at the kids. My eyes widened. But that was understandable, vandalism does seem like his thing.

"Don't try to cover for them, Z-Dog!" Another Frat brother shouted, pointing at Braden. Z-Dog? I arched my eyebrow up at him, a smirk on my face. I will have to ask about that one.

"Who's Z-Dog?" Dad asked, looking at the all of us, we all shrugged back

"We know they were trying to get back at us for making them do the naked plunge in our swimming hole." The leader shouted, bringing the attention back to himself. Did he just say naked plunge? Oh my God… Ew. Why would you do that to anyone?! People swim in there!

"Your swimming hole?!" Dee demanded, the leader looked at her, glaring slightly.

"I have been swimming at the quarry since I was eight years old." She pointed to herself, many of the other people in our group nodded, also having grown up here.

"Apparently, everybody in this crap town has been swimming there since they were eight years old!" Leader shouted,

"I guess nobody wants to leave this dump because they are too busy sucking!" He added, and again, they all cheered and hollered as if this guy was the smartest of them all. These guys were really dumb… Are these the types you get at college?

"Listen, Lenny Feder left this town, moved to Hollywood, made big bucks, probably more than all you brain acts put together ever will!" Mr. Bailey shouted from somewhere in the crowd. I looked to see him walking forward to stand at the front.

"But, guess what! He came back here! Because this beautiful town is his home and it will always be his home." He continued. I smiled as he and Dad exchanged a look and a nod. Maybe that will put an end to the constant insults whenever he was around us. I turned my attention back to the college group, as some of them began laughing

"_Well_ that was just a moving testament to this community, bro!" Spaz chuckled sarcastically.

"But we didn't come here to hear any lame speeches. We came here to kick some old, smelly, ass!" He shouted the end. The others shouted along with him. Oh boy. Something tells me we were going to have to kick some ass. The cheering continued until Dad stepped up, spreading his arms.

"Fellas! we may be old." He shouted,

"We may be smelly." Marcus continued.

"We may have a penis!" Deanne's voice piped up and I looked over to see her, Mom, and Sally pointing to Fabio. I let out a laugh as Fabio rolled her eyes in frustration.

"But the only ones their ass kick around here is going to be you spoil, privilege, uppity, preppy, d-bags." Eric finished, bringing the serious tone of the situation back around.

"Now let's get busy!" Kurt shouted before charging forward. We all followed him, picking targets. I instantly went for some blonde girl who looked wasted, she instantly went for my hair, but I punched her and she went down. I fought off a few more, but not without getting a couple of kicks and hits. I noticed some guy going after Greg, who was distracted by fighting some other guy. I ran and jumped onto the guys back, tackling him down.

"Agh!" The guy yelled as he managed to throw me off of him and kick me in the stomach. I punched him in the jaw, bending slightly as I regained my breath, he could take a punch though and instantly went to grab a fistful of my hair. I cried out as he pulled me to the ground, kicking my ribs, and then all at once, he was thrown off of me. I looked to see Braden had tackled him.

"Thanks!" I nodded, evading one guy, and punching another.

"Look out!" Braden pointed behind me, I whipped around and kicked the girl that was coming at me across the face. Okay, at least those 8 years of Jiu-jitsu paid off.

"Behind you!" I noticed one with a lacrosse stick coming after him; Braden spun and punched him in the face. I laughed, and then noticed Marcus was in trouble. Braden noticed too and ran to help him. I went after a guy that was going after my Mom, using the other guys lacrosse stick.

"You may want to go help Dad!" I nodded to where Dad and the leader were duking it out. Mom nodded and ran off in that direction. I continued to use the handy lacrosse stick, causing some serious damage.

"GEMMA!" Tanner's voice rang out, I looked to see him running towards me, but a Frat guy jumped in front of him. He punched Tanner, who dropped. I had mixed feelings about this situation. The Frat guy turned to me, stopping for a second.

"Hey good looking…" He smiled, I rolled my eyes and went to whack him with the stick, but Braden re-appeared and the guy was gone. All of a sudden, everything sort of stopped, there was only yelling. I looked and saw the deer from earlier, and he was going to town on Becky's monkey again, and the leader's junk. Upon seeing their leader was defeated, the college kids started running away. A few of the main group stayed and dragged their crying leader away. I laughed at the scene, and just the sheer insanity of what just happened. Everyone was cheering in celebration, and soon the party was back in full swing.

"Well, I'm a little sad I didn't get to punch him." Braden grumbled, poking the still unconscious Tanner with his shoe. I giggled slightly.

"Let's get him out of here." I sighed. I took his hands and Braden took his feet, and we began to lug Tanner out to the front of the house. Once we placed him on the front lawn, I sent a text to his big sister, who I cheered with. We walked to the back, and Mom walked up to us,

"Should I be concerned that you two were just carrying an unconscious boy out front?" She asked, a slight smirk on her face. Braden and I exchanged a look, coming to a silent agreement, we looked back and answered.

"Nah." We said. She just shrugged and went off.

"So, what should we do now?" I asked, turning to look up at Braden, but he didn't respond. He looked me straight in the eye and leaned down slowly. I found myself wanting to kiss him back, and just as our lips were about to touch, my Dad walked up.

"WHOA! Didn't mean to- uh, sorry. I've…. Gotta go. Tell your mom I'll be back." He shouted, covering his eyes, walking away. Braden and I jumped away from each other.

"Okay Daddy…" I looked down at the ground. He walked away, and Braden cleared his throat.

"Sorry… That was…" He started, I looked up at him and shook my head.

"No, it's fine… I just… Maybe it was for the best… I mean, I just ya know…" I trailed off.

"Broke up with your boyfriend… Yeah…" Braden nodded. I nodded too, looking away.

"We should get back to the party…" I whispered. He nodded and we went back to the people, going our separate ways.

"What was all that about?" Lys asked as I sat next to her.

"What was what?" I asked,

"I totally saw you and Braden almost kiss!" She whispered, I rolled my eyes.

"It's not that big of a deal! Nothing is going to happen! Besides, I just broke up with my boyfriend… Like 5 hours ago." I pointed out, anything with Braden I'm afraid would just be a rebound.

"Tanner was a huge ass!" She exclaimed, I shook my head.

"I still really liked him!" I said,

"You could really like Braden!" She pointed out.

"He's here for 2 months at max, there's no point." I sighed,

"You're being ridiculous." She muttered, I shrugged. Soon after that conversation, the party was basically over, and everyone went home. I was in the kitchen cleaning up some of the mess when my Mom walked in.

"Have you seen your father?" She asked.

"He told me he would be back later." I replied, leaning on the counter, looking at her. She frowned.

"Okay… He didn't say anything else?" She asked. I shook my head and she sighed.

"You okay Mom?" I asked,

"Yeah… We just have a lot going on. Why don't you leave those for tomorrow? It's late." She said, I shrugged, placing the last of the stuff in the trash.

"Okay.. Love you. Goodnight." I hugged her, and she hugged me back tightly.

"Love you too sweetheart. Sleep well." She said, I nodded and walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I took a shower, dressed in my favorite sweatpants, and t-shirt. I turned on Netflix to Walking Dead and lied in my bed, landing on the stuffed bear Tanner had won for me at the fair. I threw it off my bed and turned my back to it.

"Just go to sleep." I whispered to myself. On my bed side table there was a picture of us at Prom. I glared at it. Around my room were random reminders of him and I, and I groaned.

"So much for sleep." I grumbled. I hopped up and walked downstairs. I grabbed an empty box from the basement which was still there from moving, and ran back up. Once there, I began to throw whatever reminded me of Tanner into it. Once my room was cleared, I walked back out and placed the box by the door. I hadn't even noticed I was crying until I wiped my face, feeling suddenly exhausted.

"Gemma?" I jumped and looked up at Greg, he was at the foot of the stairs, rubbing his eyes.

"Shit, hey Greg." I crossed my arms over my chest, looking at the ground.

"Why are down here?" He asked, I looked at the box, then over at the kitchen.

"Getting a drink." I replied.

"That box wasn't here before…" He pointed at it, walking over to it. He looked through it.

"I just needed to get rid of some stuff." I shrugged. He sighed, remaining quiet. Not that I minded.

"I'm gonna go to bed." I said, moving to walk past him. He all of a sudden wrapped me in a hug. Sighing, I hugged back. That was the good thing about having a twin, no words needed to be said. We just know.

"It'll be okay." He assured. I nodded, backing away from him and wiping my eyes again.

"It will… I'm just really confused… I don't understand why…. Did I do something?" I replied.

"No, no. He's an idiot." He assured. I shook my head.

"Whatever you say. I'm gonna go to bed." I said, nodding up the stairs. He nodded and turned to walk to the kitchen. I ran up the stairs and into my room. I collapsed onto the bed where I fell into a fitful sleep.


End file.
